Every year in the United States, countless property abatement fines are uncollected by municipalities, local authorities and agencies. As a result, almost every municipality, local authority, and agency has delinquent abatement fine receivables. These fines of residential, commercial, or other nature, are not always detected during title search or escrow closing during the sale refinance or transfer of real property. After such closings, all liens against the subject property are settled. Specifically, lienholders against such subject property are paid and title is thus cleared as the subject property, at which time the property is now refinanced or transferred. With respect to property abatement liens, be they municipalities, local authorities and agencies, or any combination thereof, if such a lien existed against the subject property or its owner of record, said lien would of course be satisfied at subject close of escrow, resulting in the municipalities, local authorities and agencies recovering liens as appropriate.
From a fine recovery perspective, a very real shortcoming exists with the above process, which is and continues to be standard procedure in the municipalities, local authorities and agencies with respect to real property transactions of a residential, commercial or other nature. For example, the current process omits entirely a very substantial property fine recovery mechanism which could assist municipalities, local authorities and agencies revenue recovery efforts, or any combination thereof, in situations where liens exist not against the property in escrow or its owner, but rather against the lienholder on the subject property. Specifically, there are indeed instances involving real property transactions where municipalities, local authorities and agencies or any combination thereof, are due abatement fine fees by certain parties who are other than the property owner of record. These outstanding obligations are in fact currently undetectable, and therefore uncollectable, to said municipalities, local authorities and agencies as a result of said real property being owned by another party, which third party has no real property ownership relationship, such as a community property interest, a joint tenancy interest, a tenancy in common interest, or any other ownership interest with the party who in fact owes such outstanding fines.